


ANXIETY CONFUSION EXCITEMENT.

by YouWillNeverKnowMe



Category: Trench - Twenty One Pilots (Album), Twenty One Pilots
Genre: Alternate Universe - Trench (Album), Brainwashing, Codes & Ciphers, DEMA (Twenty One Pilots), If you're reading this fanfic you know exactly what this is about., Level of Concern, M/M, Manipulation, The Game™
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-16
Updated: 2020-06-29
Packaged: 2021-03-04 02:08:15
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,479
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24756049
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/YouWillNeverKnowMe/pseuds/YouWillNeverKnowMe
Summary: After being captured and taken to a place called "DEMA", friends Tyler and Josh find themselves forced to play a game being orchestrated by nothing more than a television set. However, between the images coming from the screen and the things they remember—the lines between real life and the Game begin to blur.Who is the voice coming from the television? What are the images that they continue to find? What are the mysterious symbols they keep coming across? Just how many levels will they have to endure?What's at the end of the Game?
Relationships: Josh Dun & Tyler Joseph, Josh Dun/Tyler Joseph
Comments: 4
Kudos: 13





	1. Introduction

**CHAPTER ONE.**

**INTRODUCTION.**

The sound of loud static is what jolts him awake. 

Frantic hands shot out to feel around him. Try and figure out where he was.

_Cold. Damp. Dark._

The room was unfamiliar. And strange in layout. Four walls, a large door. A camera sat in the corner, a red indicator glaring back. Speakers and a television set sat in the middle of it. The same static still continued on the screen. 

A wince came over Tyler's face as he became aware of the aching pain in his head. An oncoming migraine? 

"...Josh."

That's why this felt wrong, aside from the obvious.

_He was alone._

" Josh! "

His feet stumbled over themselves as he tried to get up quickly, running to one of the walls. Feeling all along it for something. With the door locked, however, and no other exits or spots that would give there was only one conclusion.

He was locked in.

_'Are you experiencing feelings of concern?'_

The sound of a voice made the hair on the back of his neck stand up. His muscles tensed. Much like a deer caught in the headlights.

_'We can help.'_

Tyler slowly turned his head to look back at the television set. The screen was now lit up with a random image, the word _LVL-CNRN_ overlapping it.

The man watched the screen for who know how long. The rhythmic pattern of imagery rolling done the screen seeming to pull him in. 

**_'Tyler. Are you even listening to me?'_ **

**_His gaze broke from the TV to his mother who was standing over him._ **

**_"..Yeah. You were just saying how I should—..."_ **

**_A deep sigh, his mother shaking her head._ **

**_" I swear. The minute there's a TV, you're gone. I don't even know why I bother anymore. "_ **

The screen caught to black, cloaking the entire room in next to pitch black darkness. Though, with as faint as the light above him was, it may have well been dark.

With his distraction gone, Tyler could already feel his heart rate picking up. The feeling of confusion sinking in. The feeling of fear. 

**BANG BANG BANG BANG.**

His head snapped up, eyes fixed on the left wall. No way could he have just heard that. 

**BANG BANG BANG BANG.**

_"Hello?! "_

A feeling of relief ran through him, his shoulders sagging minutely.

"Josh?!" 

_"Tyler! What is this?! Where are we?"_

And as if it were planning to answer his question, the television set flicked back to live.

_Static. Screeching. Then the same words, LVL-CNRN._

_'Want to play a game?'_

_The screen caught to a symbol of some short, a low bellowing sound coming from the speakers as it panned across the screen._

_'Anxiety. Confusion. Excitement. Anxiety. Confusion. Excitement. Anxiety. Anixety. Anxiet-SSHHHHHHHH.'_

_The static returned. The same words back once again._

_' If you are receiving this message, you are most likely experiencing Level of Concern. We thank you for your participation. We have hidden codes for you to unlock new levels. Each level contains elements that could be a clue to proceed to the next level. We guarantee that this game is madness, happiness, paranoia, and fun. Good luck! That concludes our session. Have a pleasant day! '_   
  


_The screen blipped once more before the words 'ENTER CODE' appeared. Waiting._

_" Tyler! Ty! '_

**BANG BANG BANG.**

"I'm still here..." The words were mumbled at first, before he seemed to blink himself from the moment.

"I'm still here!"

_"What the hell was that? '_

Tyler's head shook softly as he tried to process all the information they had just been thrown at them.

" I don't know...But I have a feeling we're gonna find out. "


	2. Level One.

**CHAPTER TWO.**

**LEVEL ONE.**

The pair had sat in silence, both simply watching the various clips and such that came across the television. Waiting for something, anything.

While Tyler watched, Josh searched. He shuffled around the room, checked the doors, the walls, the floors. Everything. Hope was beginning to dwindle until his shoe caught on something.

A small hinge.

Josh was quick to get down on his knees, pulling back the flimsy covering on the floor to find a small door. No bigger than a few inches across. Not an exit. 

A sound of exertion left him as he managed to yank it open. 

**Two grey jumpsuits. A tablet. Red flowers.**

Josh's brow furrowed as he took the items out, investigating each for some kind of clue. The voice said there would be clues. 

Tyler, meanwhile, was enraptured by the television set.

_SCREEEECCCHHH. A flower, wilting in fast time. Black. A yellow pitchfork and a tone made of a couple notes._

The smell of dead flowers flooded his senses. Sickly sweet. Jarring and nauseating.

**_Running. Splashing water. Red robes. Horse hooves._ **

A sharp chill shot down his spine, dragging him back to the moment. Back to the TV. To the noise. 

_'Are you experiencing levels of concern?'_

The voice, this time, came from in his head and not the screen. The deep, gravelly voice that he recognized. But from _where_.

**What was he remembering?**

_"Tyler! It's the TV! The code's in the TV!"_

Wide eyes glanced up as static rolled down the screen. Embedded in it, numbers. And what looked like letters.

"Four nine one!" 

Tyler was quick to start reciting what he could make out. The static lingering just long enough for him to read it all to Josh and then disappear. 

The TV cut almost immediately after. A triumphant sound coming from it. Like the sound that would play when you won an arcade game.

_'Level One!'_

They had put the first code right in front of them? In the static? 

Tyler's thoughts were cut short by the ground below him shaking. The wall that had separated him and Josh sunk into what seemed to be nothing, but disappeared nonetheless.

The pair stared at each other in disbelief.

The man stayed where he was sat on the ground, staring at Josh as though he might've grown a second head. 

Josh all but tossed the tablet in his hands down in favor of moving to help his friend off the floor. One hand reached out and the best smile he could muster was given. 

Without hesitation, Tyler took the other's hand. And was almost immediately pulled into an embrace. 

The embrace lingered for a moment, Tyler being the first to pull away as he patted Josh on the back. As they pulled apart, Tyler eyed the pad that had been thrown aside.

"What is that?" 

His companion glanced in the same direction and a soft 'Oh.' left him as he moved to pick up the device again.

"I don't...know. I found it in a little...hole. Over there." 

Josh nodded his head in the direction of the hatch he had discovered. 

"There were a couple other things, too. But. This is what let me enter the numbers."

Tyler eyed the device again before making his way towards the small hole in the floor. 

The jumpsuits. The flowers.

**What did any of this mean?**

"It said Level One. So, there's multiple levels. Multiple codes, multiple levels." 

Tyler nodded slowly at Josh's conclusion.

"But _how many_?" Tyler countered, pulling one of the jumpsuits out.  
"How long are they expecting us to stay in here?" 

"..I don't know." Josh admitted.

The pair sat in silence as one investigated the clothing and the other played with the pad.

None of this made sense. Why them? Why this game? Why the television set? Or the codes? Or _any of it._

Tyler was given a soft nudge to get his attention before he was handed the tablet.

"Look." Josh said, pointing to the screen.  
"It gave us these, like. Photos and stuff."

_Each level contains elements that could be a clue to proceed to the next level._

"They're clues. Or. _Somehow_ , they're clues. They have to be. That's what the TV said." 

Josh glanced over to Tyler before he nodded his agreement.

_**"Tyler, you can't be serious about this."** _

_**"I'm totally serious! Are you not watching this? This is stupid! Why would they put something like that out there?"** _

_**"Because they know it'll get a rise out of people. You can't always believe what you see on TV."** _

"Okay. So. What do we do?" 

Silence again.

"We use whatever we can to find the next one." Tyler conceded.  
"And we just. Keep going."

A tap to the screen took them away from the photographs and back to the code entry.

Twenty sygils lined the bottom of the screen, the first one lit yellow. 

"Until we get to Level Twenty."

Josh felt a lump form in his throat as an all too familiar nagging started in the back of his mind.

"And then?" 

Tyler glanced from the screen back to Josh and did the only he could do. Shrug.

"We'll find out when we get there, I guess." 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry this came so late. quarantine is wild. hope this chapter was cool. definitely some things slipping through cracks.
> 
> feel free to leave your theories in the comments. 
> 
> until next time.

**Author's Note:**

> this was kinda short. it'll be longer next chapter. stick around, you'll see.


End file.
